EU Commission Asks Anti-Fraud Watchdog to Probe Mandelson

(Bloomberg) — The European Union’s anti-fraud office has been asked to “examine” Peter Mandelson’s behavior during his time as the bloc’s trade chief after more details emerged about the British politician’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, made the request on February 18 “given the circumstances and the significant amount of documents made public,” according to a spokesperson.

The spokesman added that the commission is assessing whether there has been a breach of obligations under EU treaties and the Code of Conduct. Mandelson served as EU Trade Commissioner from 2004 to 2008.

Based in Brussels, OLAF’s mandate is to detect and investigate fraud, corruption and serious abuses involving EU funds. The commission’s request to investigate the Mandelson case does not mean that the authority will pursue the case.

A representative from OLAF’s press office confirmed receipt of the commission’s request and said the matter was being investigated. The request to OLAF was previously reported by the Financial Times.

The request from the EU’s executive arm comes after UK police arrested the Labor Party ambassador on suspicion of misconduct in public office after the US Justice Department released emails showing he had passed government information to Epstein.

Police searched two properties linked to the former US ambassador last week as part of a criminal investigation spurred by the release of his email cache more than three weeks ago. Some of these letters allegedly show that Mandelson disclosed potentially market-sensitive information to Epstein while serving as a minister in the UK government.

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